CHARLOTTE, NC (FOX 46 WJZY) - Charlotte City Council members deciding whether to bring red light cameras back to the city say funding and safety are two of the major issues involved with whether the program is implemented.

“From the data we’ve seen from the past implementation of red light cameras, it does reduce angle crashes. There is a slight uptick in rear end crashes, though those tend to not be as dangerous or not cause as much harm to passengers, so we do think there is some benefit to it, but we also have to look at the funding mechanism,” said council member Larken Egleston.

In 2006, Charlotte took down their red light cameras because the city could not pay for the program, after a court ruled that 90 percent of red light camera revenue must go to public schools.

“If nothing’s changed and we have to increase taxes or take things from other areas that we need in order to fund something like this, I’m not really going to be for that,” said council member Tariq Bokhari.

Other cities dropped red light cameras over the past decade because they were regarded as just revenue generators.

“We’ve heard from a lot of citizens who do want them. This is not a way for us to make money on the backs of our citizens. In fact, we would be losing money on re-implementing this program,” Egleston said.

And that’s not the only issue up for debate with red light cameras.

“If there’s a challenge there that will ultimately cause problems in our court system, that’s going to be another factor that we’ll have to consider,” Bokhari said.

The Council decided to table the discussion until a public meeting scheduled to occur later this month.